The path that got him there was winding — at least on the peripheries — and the same can be said for the path that has gotten the Bears to 4-8 heading into Week 14 of Williams’ rookie season. The Bears started off winning four of their first six and they seemingly “fit in” to the stacked NFC North, which is the NFL’s toughest division this season. The wheels have fallen off, in spectacular fashion, since that respectable start, though.
It started with an embarrassing “Hail Mary” loss to the Washington Commanders in which head coach Matt Eberflus made all the wrong decisions and one of his defenders, Tyrique Stevenson, was taunting fans with his back turned to the play while Washington’s receivers were half way down the field. Up next were two games against the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots that saw Chicago outscored, 48-12 while Williams was sacked a combined 15 times. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was fired after the loss to the Patriots.
Then, a rivalry game against the Green Bay Packers that saw the Packers win on a blocked field goal that would have won the Bears the game.
It all culminated on Thanksgiving against the Detroit Lions. The Bears had the ball down 23-20 and had driven to the edge of field goal range. Williams took a sack with 36 seconds left which put the ball on the Detroit 41, but it was third-and-26 and Eberflus had a timeout in his pocket and enough time to try to at least run one play to set up a field goal. Instead, he never called that timeout and Williams took way too much time getting the play off, so the Bears watched the clock run out as Williams threw a desperate pass into the end zone to try to salvage the moment.
That moment was the one that got Eberflus fired, though it was one of many over the past three seasons in Chicago.
Caleb Williams thinks Bears’ turnover is all a stepping stone for him
Now, Williams has five games left in his rookie season and he’s seen multiple people fired. Tumultuous is absolutely the right word for it, but speaking with the media earlier this week, he chose to put a different spin on it. These are all just steps on the way to progress for him and the Bears.
“I think this is a stepping-stone of development, to be able to have all of this in my first year,” Williams said. per ESPN. “I wouldn’t say that I’m happy for it. Having these moments is definitely something that will help me in the future. Having these situational moments that it’s hard to rep in practice, having some of these moments, having your coach fired or coaches fired, and people being promoted.
“You know, things like that all happening within a couple weeks of each other, you know I think it would help me in the long run being able to handle all of this, handle this first year and being able to grow from it.”
Williams is right that adversity is sometimes the only way toward true growth, but in the NFL the only true growth that matters is winning. That presents him with a unique experience to back up his words in Week 14, because up next on the schedule is a 5-7 49ers team that is far from the dominant squad it has been in recent memory.
The Bears will have to go on the road to beat them, but they’re extremely banged up with left tackle Trent Williams, safety George Odum, linebacker Dre Greenlaw and running back Jordan Mason all ruled out for this contest due to injury. Defensive end Nick Bosa is listed as doubtful, and then there’s running back Christian McCaffrey, who was just lost again (likely for the rest of the season) with a knee injury.
The 49ers are banged up and they’ve lost three in a row. The story behind the story the past few weeks in Chicago is that the Bears have actually shown some signs of life lately — they were within earshot of beating both the Packers and Lions, two of the best teams in the NFC — so if Williams wants these “stepping stones” to mean anything early on in his career, he’s going to have to beat the 49ers in Week 14.